Collier Pest Control is your Southwest Florida Pest Control Authority, including Roaches. Cockroaches are among the most common insects in the world. Some species grow to be several inches long. There are approximately 3500 species of cockroaches worldwide, about 55 species are found in the United States, and 8 species are common in Southwest Florida.

The German cockroach is most commonly encountered in much of the U.S. and in Southwest Florida. Only a few of the cockroaches in the U.S. routinely enter our dwellings. The most common of these are the German, American, Brown Banded, and the Australian Roaches. All of these species are found in Southwest Florida.

Most cockroaches live outdoors and are tropical or sub-tropical in origin. The two most common ways that roaches enter our dwellings are carried in on food containers or other parcels, or through construction cracks of windows, doors, walls, and roofs.

Cockroaches need the same things people need to live, food, moisture, and shelter. Cockroaches can go several weeks without food. Even a small amount of spilled food can sustain a roach for a long period.

In the south, and here in Southwest Florida, the American Cockroach (the famous Florida Palmetto Bug) and other larger species (Australian and Florida woods roaches) are commonly found in the landscape. Movement to indoors often increases during periods of cold, extreme hot and dry weather, or excessive rainfall. These large cockroaches can readily move inside during nighttime foraging.

Control of the German Cockroach inside is mostly a matter of good house cleaning and Sanitation. But, if the German Cockroach is introduced inside, proper roach baiting in target areas is the key to a quick control.

Elimination or control of these external cockroaches can be helped by removing harborage sights such as: heavy mulch, compose piles, lumber or fire wood stacked next to buildings, repairing weather stripping on doors and windows, turning off outside lights at night, and heavy moisture areas.